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Does anyone have experience with putting a Tern Spartan™ low-riding front rack on a Bike Friday New World Tourist? Will it fit?

Tern Spartan front rack:

From their website

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Bike Friday NWT

Also from website

Bike Friday standard front rack

enter image description here

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    I doubt that it will work with the brakes.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Dec 30, 2019 at 22:29
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    @DanielRHicks concur - there ARE no brakes pictured with the rack, suggests it only for disk brakes or forks where the brake is behind the tines.
    – Criggie ♦
    Dec 31, 2019 at 3:10
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    @Jonas - I suspect the horizontal rod would interfere with the brake arms.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Dec 31, 2019 at 13:01
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    I think you should just call Bike Friday, they're a small and very accessible company who knows their own product inside and out. They'll likely be able to help you out one way or another with racking your NWT.
    – Nathan Knutson
    Jan 1, 2020 at 20:53
  • 1
    Have some bonus rep for such a quality answer. Keep up the good work!
    – Criggie ♦
    Jan 8, 2020 at 2:10

1 Answer 1

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+250

Yes, a Tern Spartan Front Rack does fit on a BikeFriday New World Tourist (and also the Tern Cargo rear rack): enter image description here

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To prevent the rack from interfering with the V-brakes I mounted the upper end of the rack (and the fender) on a 80mm screw. Behind the fork I inserted 4x6mm spacer (the thinner in diameter the better) to mount the rack before the V-brakes (yes, the mount does interfere with the brake's cable but since the surface of the spacer is smooth I do not expect to notice anything when braking):

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As of January 2020, Tern offers two versions of the Spartan front rack. 74mm and 100mm. I bought the 74mm version. When mounting the rack to my BikeFriday NWT, I felt like the rack could be slightly wider in order to being able to mount it with less force. However when measuring the rack at the height where the panniers are mounted, I measure roughly 100 mm which I find confusing.

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Some may argue that using a 80mm screw with a margin of some 30mm from the fork to attach the rack reduces the stability of the rack and the maximum loading capacity. However, to me this does not seem to be the case considering that I will not mount very high weights to the rack. I do not know if my solution also works with disc brakes rather than V-brakes.

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    Excellent solution - thank you for coming back to share it, +1. If your fix shows flexiness after a while, you could use a larger-diameter of spacer to give a wider stance. Also, the curved profile at the rear may benefit from one of those rear caliper brake-washers that have a flat face and a curved face opposite.
    – Criggie ♦
    Jan 5, 2020 at 10:44
  • The 74mm version is for Bromptons that have a narrow front hub (74mm vs 100mm for a standard hub).
    – bertie
    Jun 30, 2021 at 23:21
  • I don't think so because Brompton ships with 16 inch rims whereas Tern has no bicycle with rims smaller than 20 inch. I doubt the rack fits well on a Brompton.
    – Stücke
    Jul 1, 2021 at 5:41

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